Wednesday, May 1, 2013

major & minor pentatonic

major: Well, the major pentatonic is just the same as a major diatonic (a diatonic scale is a seven note scale) except the pentatonic does not include the 4th and the 7th of the major sclae.

minor: The notes excluded from the minor pentatonic (2nd and 6th) are farther on in the tonal strenghts of a chord.Applying The Major Scale.Without actually applying theory to your music, knowing it is useless, so, now you know what's going to be explained in this part. Hopefully those of you that are reading this know how to play the major pentatonic and atleast one of its positions. Well, the major pentatonic is just the same as a major diatonic (a diatonic scale is a seven note scale) except the pentatonic does not include the 4th and the 7th of the major sclae. Because the major pentatonic is the same as the major diatonic - minus those notes - you can play the major scale anytime that you can play a major pentatonic. So, if a chord progression is in the key of C, you can play the C major scale to give your solo, lead, or riff a little bit more color. Now, when you are making your lead or solo or riff just remember that simply going up and down the major scale is not cool, so don't do that. Going up and down the scale just removes the tastefulness and makes it sound very uncreative. To get the major scale to sound good you have to have a melody and the notes have to be juggled. To juggle the notes around, simply don't play them in order.Applying The Natural Minor Scale.Just as the major scale can be substituted for the major pentatonic, the natural minor scale can be substituted for the minor pentatonic. Like I mentioned earlier, the minor pentatonic is heavily used in rock music, blues music, and just about any type of music today. While it isn't the only one used, it is used more than 3/4 of the time when soloing. So, when you want to use the minor pentatonic, rethink that idea, and try the natural minor scale. The natural minor scale includes the notes that add flavor and interest to the audience's ears. The notes excluded from the minor pentatonic (2nd and 6th) are farther on in the tonal strenghts of a chord. So, playing them over the chord would add something that intrigues the listeners leaving them in shock and awe, while the notes in the pentatonic sound so dull because they're overused.